Prometheus (DC Comics)

Prometheus
Prometheus: panel from New Year's Evil: Prometheus (Feb. 1998) Art by Arnie Jorgensen.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Year's Evil: Prometheus #1 (Feb. 1998)
Created by	Grant Morrison (writer) Arnie Jorgensen (pencils)
In-story information
Team affiliations	The Society Injustice Gang
Notable aliases	Retro, Shazam
Abilities	Genius-level intellect Peak human physical and mental conditioning Highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist Expert in the use of various weapons Cybernetic implants, helmet and armor further augment physical attributes

Prometheus is a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Created by Grant Morrison (writer) and Arnie Jorgensen (pencils), he made his first appearance in New Year's Evil: Prometheus (Feb. 1998).

In 2009, Prometheus was ranked as IGN's 80th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. A character that utilizes the Prometheus moniker appears on The CW's live-action TV series Arrow.

Prometheus debuted in New Year's Evil: Prometheus (Feb. 1998) and returned in JLA #16–17 (March–April 1998) and #36–41 (Dec. 1999 – May 2000). The character was then impersonated for a time by Chad Graham, but returned in Faces of Evil: Prometheus #1 (March 2009). Prometheus starred as the villain in the limited series Justice League: Cry for Justice #1–7 (Sept. 2009 – April 2010), and was killed at the conclusion of the story.

Writer Mike Conroy noted "...with his technologically advanced armor and weapons arsenal, which can download the fighting techniques of the world's top martial artists...he (Prometheus) turned out to be a formidable foe, as the JLA found out."

Prometheus relates his origin to a young man who has won a competition to be part of the JLA for a day, with the alias "Retro" and a matching costume. The unnamed son of two hippie criminals who committed murder and theft, Prometheus traveled across the United States with them until they were cornered and shot dead by local law enforcement. This causes Prometheus's hair to turn white from the traumatic experience, and he silently vows to "annihilate the forces of justice" in order to get revenge for his dead parents.

Using his parents' hidden caches of money, Prometheus travels the world and develops his skills, becoming an underground pit-fighter in Brazil; a mercenary in Africa and joining terrorist groups in the Middle East. After avenging his parents' deaths by murdering the police officer who shot them, Prometheus went to college and ultimately located the Himalayan city of Shambhala, inhabited by a sect of evil monks. Prometheus discovers the monastery has been built on an alien spaceship, and the leader of the sect was one of the creatures from the vessel. He kills the alien and obtains the "Ghost Key", which opens a portal to the "Ghost Zone", a hyperspace void that allows interstellar travel.